Guardians
by SpawnOfTheChaosBringer
Summary: How did her guardians come to be? Part Two of The Silverbolt Chronicles
1. Chapter 1: Thundercracker

Thundercracker watched the purple mech sadly, knowing he was in pain. Not physical pain, but a pain that came from the spark. In the mech's arm was a little sparkling, her optics closed. On his right was the brother of the mech. His blue, red, and white frame vibrating with rage. On his left side, a purple and black mech stood, the usual cheerful hyper Seeker gone. Instead, he held a mournful look in his optics, wings drooping low.

Why did the little one and her carrier have to suffer? The war already took things that had mattered most, now it was tearing people apart. Thundercracker then heard a snarl right next to him, and he turned to see his Trine leader stalking towards the door.

"Starscream, what are you doing," Thundercracker demanded, worried about his impulsive trinemate.

Starscream whipped around to face him, armor fluffed up with fury. His optics were narrowed with hatred.  
"I'm going to get rid of HIM." He growled, continuing his trek to the door. Thundercracker's optics widened with confusion and when he glanced to the other mech, his expression was reflected on the black and purple mech's face.  
"What are you talking about?!" the black and purple mech asked, optics wide with confusion. Facing them again, Starscream hissed, "I'm going to get rid of Megatron, Skywarp." Both Seekers froze, disbelief flickering in their E.M field.

Get rid of **MEGATRON **?! Is Starscream out of his processor?!

"Are you crazy!" Skywarp screeched, horrified. "You won't survive and even if you do, Megatron will never trust you again! Who knows what he'll do!" Starscream glared at them and said only one thing.

"Megatron hurt him, my **BROTHER **. He will pay!"

* * *

Thundercracker and Skywarp took watch over the new carrier and his sparkling, wondering what was going on in their sleeping processors. What was the mech thinking about all of this? What is the mech's next course of action?

A beeping in their comns distracted them from their pondering, and what they saw made their spark grow cold with fear.

Starscream is critically injured, might not survive…

* * *

Both he and Skywarp rushed into the , gasps of horror escaping their vocalizers. On the berth, Starscream lay there, his body a mess. He was surrounded by a pool of his own energon, large gashes in his body. The worst of all was the twisted angle his wings were at , his chest ripped to shreds, exposing his sparkchamber. He was missing one of his optics, the other cracked. And around his throat, wires crackled with energy.

**"STARSCREAM!"**


	2. Chapter 2: Skywarp

Skywarp forced himself to hold back his screams of horror in favor of glaring at the CMO of the Decepticons. He glared at the crimson racer, and snarled at him.

"Do you wanna explain how this happened, KNOCKOUT ?!" He snarled, holding the mech's gaze with his own optics. Knockout glared back at him.

"I would have told you if I knew!" he growled, annoyed. But then the teleporter of the Decepticons remembered something. Knockout is Starscream's younger brother, he was the one who did the medical checkup for their brother. If he knew, he would have gone after whoever hurt Starscream, paint job being ruined be damned. Skywarp sighed, suddenly feeling tired. Knockout's optics softened when he saw his deflated expression. Placing a servo over his shoulder, he spoke. "Hey, 'Warp, he's going to pull through. 'Star is one of the toughest mechs I've ever known, and he will survive." Knockout then smirked. "And even if he did pass, he would haunt our sorry afts and beat some sense into the lot of us!" He burst out laughing, knowing that Knockout was right. Primus, he could get so hissy if they were being so idiotic! Then something snapped open within his processor.

"Wait a minute, Knockout?" The mech looked at him, arms crossed over each other over his chest, raising an optic ridge at him. "Didn't TC leave to take care of your brother and our niece?'' Both optics widened and the slammed open. Strolling through the door was a slender purple mech, optics wide with worry. Attached to his hip was a little femme Seeker. Behind him Thundercracker followed closely. A servo flew up to the mechs mouth, tears falling from his optics.

Knockout stared at the mech, jaw dropping.

**"SOUNDWAVE?!"**


	3. Chapter 3: Soundwave

He couldn't tear his gaze away from the shredded body of his older brother, having never seen him like this. Primus, what happened?

**"SOUNDWAVE?!" **Soundwave's helm turned to the origin of the voice and he looked straight into the annoyed optics of his younger brother, Knockout. Knockout had a scowl on his face and Soundwave wanted to tell him that it didn't look nice on him, that he should leave the scowling to their older brother, Starscream. But he didn't. Instead, Soundwave returned his gaze to Starscream, placing a servo over his cheek. Not facing him, he asked.

"Thundercracker, Skywarp, Knockout….what happened?" He heard the blue Seeker sigh and he knew something bad was going to happen.

"Soundwave, you're supposed to be resting! You just gave birth to your sparkling and didn't get to rest afterwards!" Knockout screeched, pulling his servo away from Starscream.

He let him, still shell-shocked. It was only when he heard the whimpers of his little sparkling that he snapped out of it. Turning his attention to her, he spoke in the Seeker dialect.

"*Shh, it's alright. Everything is okay, Silverbolt. Your uncle is going to live!*" Soundwave stroked her helm and the whimpers stopped. He felt his spark clench knowing that she was feeling the pain Starscream was in because she didn't know how to block the bond. Primus, she was to young for this!

* * *

Soundwave laid on one of the med berths, refusing to leave his brothers alone. Resting on his chest was his daughter, Silverbolt. He watched his younger brother, work on their older brother Starscream with his partner, Breakdown.

He watched them repair the delicate mechanisms, returning the frame to what it looked like before he was injured. Soundwave had to admit, when they had the time, they could restore anyone to their previous state before they were injured.

He was surprised they haven't courted each other yet. Sure, most mechs would balk at the idea of Breakdown and Knockout getting together, but then again, they don't know the medic nor his partner. They were closer than friends. He should know.

His helm snapped upwards when he heard the groan of pain. Soundwave hadn't been the only one. Knockout and Breakdown immediately stopped what they were doing, turning off the pain receptors in the areas they haven't repaired yet. Worriedly, they waited for the Seeker to come online. Soundwave almost burst into tears when his optics snapped open. Gently giving his daughter to Knockout, he embraced the mech. Starscream embraced him as well. Pulling back, he asked the question that was haunting him since Starscream was put in the . "How did you get injured?" For some reason, he just deflected the question, asking his own.

"Is Megatron alive?" Soundwave froze, stunned. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the confusion on Breakdown and Knockout's face as well. Facing the Seeker again, he repeated his question.

"Starscream, how did you get injured?" He stayed silent, helm lowered. "Starscream?" Knockout whispered. Starscream remained silent, refusing to face them. Suddenly, the worry he felt disappeared, instead replaced with irritation.

"Dammit Starscream, what the Pits happened to you!" shouted Soundwave, slamming a fist next to mech. The mech glared at him and Soundwave glared back.

"You want to know what happened to me?" Starscream hissed, "You want to know how I got my wounds?! Fine, I'll tell you! I tried to kill him, kill Megatron!" Soundwave froze, staring at his brother with shock. Behind him, he heard the gasps of surprise.

Starscream…tried to kill Megatron? Why?

"Starscream, why?" He asked, confused. Starscream had always been a loyal Decepticon. He never questioned orders, shut down anyone who thought about betraying him. What changed? The fire didn't leave his optics. "WHY?! WHY?! BECAUSE HE HURT **YOU **!" Soundwave froze, but before he could speak, Starscream continued his rant. "THE DAMN SLAGGER HAD NO RIGHT! HE HAD NO RIGHT TO SEPARATE YOU FROM HIM! TO SEPARATE YOUR DAUGHTER FROM HER SIRE, FACTIONS BE DAMNED! HE SHOULDN'T HAVE JUST SENT YOU TO THE AUTOBOTS UNTIL SILVERBOLT WAS BORN, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN WHEN SHE IS OLD ENOUGH TO MAKE HER OWN CHOICES!" The mech stared at him with disbelief, unable to process this.

"So you almost got yourself killed because of me?!" he demanded, anger replacing the shock. "You decided that it was okay to attack because he said Silverbolt's sire won't be able to see her?! That I wasn't allowed to continue my relationship with , Starscream I agreed to the terms as well as him. We both knew that if anyone within our factions knew the truth, they would target her. Ceasefire be damned! This is to protect HER , to make sure she has a good life!" Starscream stared at him, silent. And for a second, Soundwave thought he got through to him. But the silence was broken.

"How do you know she'll be safe?"


	4. Chapter 4: Megatron

"Are you doubting my word, Starscream?" He watched as every mech in the med bay turn to face him, their reactions varying. Knockout and Breakdown was one of surprise, Soundwave with surprise but then relaxing, but it was Starscream that took him back. Instead of the respect he usually had in his optics, there was a burning hatred. One he has never seen within his SIC and Air Commander optics. It…...disturbed him.

"You!" Starscream hissed, venom in his voice. He propped himself up and promptly tried to shoot him. Soundwave let out a cry of shock, while Knockout and Breakdown tried to shield Silverbolt from the sight of one of her kin trying to kill their leader.

He dodged, many vorns of experience in the Gladiator Pits coming to the surface. Swiftly dodging the blast, he lunged forward and crushed Starscream's null rays. He released the broken weapons and servos wrapped around his neck. Faintly in the background, he heard the three mechs crying for Starscream to stop and the wails of the young femme Seeker's cries. But the mech was deaf, intent on murdering him. Wrenching the livid Seeker's servos away from his throat, Megatron threw him into the wall, a large dent appearing in it. Megatron froze, the adrenaline leaving his body. He stared in dismay at the scarlet, blue, and white mech, unable to process this. He just threw his S.I.C into the wall. WHAT THE FRAG?!

He turned slowly and froze. Breakdown stared with shock, but it was Knockout and Soundwave that made his spark clench with horror. They stared at him, fear glittering in their optics. Knockout's optics flickered back and forth between him and the unconscious Seeker. But what was nothing compared to Soundwave.

The tall slender purple mech had taken the sparkling from Knockout and held his daughter close, fear shining in his optics, slowly backing away, as if afraid he or his daughter would be the next victim.

Megatron stood there, not wanting to make them fear him more than they already did.

He looked at them, then whispered,

" **I'm sorry….** "


	5. Knockout

He didn't blame him.

How could he? As soon as they saw how he reacted to Starscream, they knew that everything was going to change. It did.

Soundwave was afraid. Afraid for his daughter, their brother, and their leader…

Knockout knew from personal experience with his brother, Soundwave, that gladiators or former gladiators tended to have violent reactions if they were attacked. It was why Megatron had damaged Starscream as badly as he did. But Starscream didn't seem to care. Knockout sighed, placing the datapad he had in his servo on his desk.

They all changed. It pained him. There had been a time, despite the cruelty of their government, he and his brothers had been happy with their friends. A time where Megatronus and Starscream traded witty banter while the others laughed. A time where they could clearly see Soundwave was in love with **him **and he reciprocated the feelings, but they were both being slagging idiots. But good things didn't seem to last. When Orion and Megatronus went to the Council to confront them, everything went to the pits. Megatronus became Megatron, Orion was now Optimus Prime, an enemy to the Decepticons, despite being a prominent member for so long.

And _**he **_joined the Autobots …

Primus, he**_ STILL_ **remembered Soundwave's grief-stricken face…

* * *

_Knockout froze when he heard the cry of anguish, the sound of something cracking. He glanced to his brother and saw the fear in the Seeker's optics. They turned and rushed into their brother's berthroom, worried for him. When they slammed the door open, they had shocked to see Soundwave on his knees, sobbing his spark out. In the corner was his demolished visor, the only thing remaining was the twisted metal making up the frame. They crouched beside him, pulling Soundwave into a hug, trying to comfort him._

_He didn't stop shaking, never allowing the tears to stop. Starscream stared at Soundwave, concerned for his brother. They stroked his shoulders, attempting to calm him down._

_"Soundwave, what's wrong?" Starscream asked softly, worry in his optics. He just shook harder, more tears falling._

_"Soundwave?" Knockout whispered._

_A choked sound escaped his mouth and he said something softly._

_"What did you say?" Starscream asked softly._

_"H-oined-rion-nd-e-obots." he mumbled, more tears flowing down his cheeks. They glanced each other again, getting more worried by their brother's behaviour._

_Starscream started again, "What ha-"_

_" **HE **JOINED ORION AND THE AUTOBOTS!" Soundwave shouted, more tears streaming down his face._

_"He joined the Autobots…" Soundwave whispered tearfully._

* * *

Knockout shook his helmg, breaking out of the memory. It was the past. Now he had to focus on his brother and his sparkling. And Starscream.

He needed to keep his brother in line, make sure he doesn't get into any trouble.

Sighing, he walked out of the medbay, going to check up on Silverbolt.

Thankfully, the hallway was empty, so it was easy to get to his quarters.

Punching in his medical code, he walked into the room, optics softening at the sight of Starscream and his trine watching Soundwave and his sparkling.

Hopefully, they can work together to get a better future. As family.

And maybe her sire can be part of it if the war ever ended.


End file.
